TfL to slash speed limits across London to 20mph

City A.M.) Rebecca Smith London mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that Transport for London (TfL) plans are underway to reduce speed limits on the capital’s roads, and enforcement measures are being drawn up to make sure they are followed. A report at the end of last year from the London Assembly Transport Committee called on… [Read More]

Rebecca Smith
London mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that Transport for London (TfL) plans are underway to reduce speed limits on the capital’s roads, and enforcement measures are being drawn up to make sure they are followed.

A report at the end of last year from the London Assembly Transport Committee called on the capital’s transport body to review the speed limits on all its roads in the capital and report back this month.

The Committee said reducing motor traffic speeds could “transform main roads” and busy junctions so they feel safer for people walking and cycling.

Conservative London Assembly member Steve O’Connell wrote to the mayor last week, raising concerns that the majority of drivers ignore 20mph speed limits. He asked whether more resources will be allocated to enforcing new 20mph zones on TfL roads.

Khan said in response:

Lowering speeds is fundamental to reducing road danger and Transport for London is actively developing a strategy to increase the number of communities which will benefit from 20mph speed limits and speed reductions.

The mayor said he will also be publishing an action plan this summer which will provide details on City Hall and TfL’s approach and timescales for implementing lower speeds, as well as what measures will be rolled out in order to enforce them and ensure compliance.

Plans include working to implement 20mph speed limits with London boroughs, while TfL also plans to pilot 20mph speed limits on parts of its road network too.

We are working in partnership with the police and all London boroughs to achieve our ‘vision zero’ ambition of creating a road network free from death or serious injury by 2041.

This includes investing in safer junctions, removing the most dangerous heavy goods vehicles from London’s roads and funding boroughs to create ‘liveable neighbourhoods’, which will transform neighbourhoods across the capital into greener, healthier, more attractive public spaces.

The December report from the Transport Committee said the safety evidence for slashing motor traffic speeds was “stark” and that on urban roads, each mile per hour reduction in average speeds results in there being up to six per cent fewer collisions.

GLA Conservatives however, have raised concerns over the speed limit proposals, saying: “The Transport for London road network or red routes are London’s arterial roads. Although they make up just five per cent of London’s roads they contain approximately 30 per cent of London’s traffic. Their purpose – and the reason that they are run by TfL rather than London’s boroughs – is to keep London and Londoners moving.”